HTC launches One M8s as cheaper variant of the One M8

Now that the HTC One M8 has been superseded by the newer One M9, HTC has unleashed a new variant of last year's flagship at a cheaper price point: the One M8s. The familiar metal body, Duo camera setup and 5.0-inch 1080p display from the One M8 have been retained, but there have been some hardware changes elsewhere.

Starting with the SoC, HTC has replaced the Snapdragon 801 found in last year's One M8 with a newer Snapdragon 615, and we expect there could a performance drop as a result. The Snapdragon 615 is 64-bit capable, and features an octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU with four cores at 1.7 GHz and another four at 1.0 GHz, plus an Adreno 405 GPU.

There's still 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage with microSD card expansion, but the internal battery has been bumped from 2,600 mAh to 2,840 mAh. The rear camera sensor has also been changed, swapping out the 4-megapixel "Ultrapixel" CMOS for a 13-megapixel unit.

The HTC One M8s will come with Android 5.0 and Sense 6.0 out of the box, rather than the latest version of Sense seen in the One M9. It will be available in gold, silver and gunmetal grey for £379.99 (US$470 after tax is deducted) in the UK, and it will also go on sale in other European nations. There's no word on when or if the One M8s will reach North America.

Curiously, the One M8 currently costs slightly less than the One M8s, so it will be interesting to see how HTC's new version of last year's flagship sells.